Author: HeraldStar

Users of Fidelity’s trading platforms encountered a series of glitches that stopped them from logging on to their accounts, just as U.S. stock markets opened for trading on Monday morning. The glitches occurred even as major share prices index soared on news of a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks over the weekend, leaving many investors using Fidelity’s online and mobile platforms frustrated that they couldn’t participate in the rally. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (.SPX), opens new tab was up more than 2.5% by 10:30 a.m. ET. “The volume today is the highest at this point in the day” out of any trading…

U.S. President Donald Trump signed a wide-reaching executive order on Monday directing drugmakers to lower the prices of their medicines to align with what other countries pay that analysts and legal experts said would be difficult to implement. The order gives drugmakers price targets in the next 30 days, and will take further action to lower prices if those companies do not make “significant progress” towards those goals within six months of the order being signed. Trump told a press conference that the government would impose tariffs on companies if the prices in the U.S. did not match those in other countries…

The leader of a British-based Russian spy ring which prosecutors said carried out surveillance for the Kremlin was on Monday sentenced in a London court to nearly 11 years in jail. Orlin Roussev, 47, pleaded guilty before trial to one count of conspiracy to spy for Russia after police found thousands of messages between him and Wirecard fugitive Jan Marsalek, who directed the unit of Bulgarian nationals from overseas. Judge Nicholas Hilliard sentenced Roussev to 10 years and eight months in prison, telling Roussev that the operations he had directed posed a serious risk to Britain’s national security. Roussev is one…

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama was on course for an unprecedented fourth term in office on Monday as partial results showed his Socialist Party with a commanding lead in Sunday’s parliamentary election. The Socialist Party won 53% of the vote with 30% of ballots counted, results from the election commission showed, far ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, which had 34%. Rama, in power since 2013, is the favourite to win, bolstered in part by an influential network built over 12 years in power, a recent period of healthy economic growth and a largely…

Poland summoned the Russian ambassador and said it would close the Russian consulate in Krakow after evidence showed Moscow was responsible for a huge fire that almost completely destroyed a Warsaw shopping centre in 2024. Russia denied any involvement in the arson attack and accused Poland of Russophobia. Already tense relations between Warsaw and Moscow have hit new lows since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. NATO member Poland says its own role as a hub for aid for Kyiv has made it a target of Russian sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation. “The ambassador was invited to the ministry at 1500…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is ready to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin “personally” in Istanbul on Thursday for talks over ending the war. His post on X came shortly after Donald Trump demanded Ukraine agree to Putin’s offer of direct talks between the two countries in Turkey. “There is no point in prolonging the killings. And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday. Personally,” Zelensky wrote. He had earlier said his country was open to talks with Russia but only after a ceasefire was in place. Western powers called for a 30-day pause in fighting to…

A charismatic 37-year-old, Burkina Faso’s military ruler Capt Ibrahim Traoré has skilfully built the persona of a pan-Africanist leader determined to free his nation from what he regards as the clutches of Western imperialism and neo-colonialism. His message has resonated across Africa and beyond, with his admirers seeing him as following in the footsteps of African heroes like Burkina Faso’s very own Thomas Sankara – a Marxist revolutionary who is sometimes referred to as “Africa’s Che Guevara”. “Traoré’s impact is huge. I have even heard politicians and authors in countries like Kenya [in East Africa] say: ‘This is it. He…

Malawian cricket is in mourning after the death of top official Arjun Menon on Saturday night. A statement from the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) said that the 48-year-old had been “brutally murdered” at his residence in Blantyre. Local police in the Southern African nation are yet to issue a statement following Menon’s death. Menon, a wicketkeeper who represented Singapore five times at senior level, was the operations manager of Cricket Malawi. MNCS chief executive Dr Henry Kamata said Menon’s contributions to the sport were “immense and far-reaching” and that he had played a “pivotal role” in the growth…

At least 130 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces and allied militia in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in a new report. It says the “massacre”, following an operation led by Burkinabè special forces, resulted in widespread civilian deaths and displacement of ethnic Fulanis. The Fulani are a pastoralist, largely Muslim community who the government has often accused of backing Islamist militants – an allegation denied by community leaders. About 40% of Burkina Faso is under the control of groups linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State operating in West Africa’s Sahel region. The…

The first group of 49 white South Africans to be granted refugee status by President Donald Trump’s administration are due to arrive shortly in the US. On Sunday they boarded a flight from Johannesburg which is due to land in Washington DC later on Monday. Relations between South Africa and the US have been tense for months, after an executive order in February in which President Trump stated that Afrikaners were victims of “racial discrimination”. This was dismissed by South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamoa, who said on Monday “there is no persecution of white Afrikaner South Africans”, adding that…